The present invention relates to an improved elbow rest device connectable to an object, preferably a chair.
It is now a fact that in the field of dental hygiene, an increasing number of dental hygienists have developed pathologies that cause them to be absent from work for long periods of time, and making it difficult for them to return to work. Hygienist""s work involves extended static muscular efforts in the neck and pectoral girdle, combined with recurrent dynamic movements of the wrist, fingers and arms, associated with physically difficult procedures. These drawbacks of their work have caused an increase of musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace.
Musculoskeletal pain (MS) is reported in people, like dental hygiene professionals, who during the course of their work, have prolonged exposure to static or repetitive arm movement. Therefore, hygienists are a classical group having high risk to be affected by MS pain.
A number of studies have been conducted on the MS problems experienced by dental hygienists and dentists. Symptoms may only appear after several years of practice, but seem to get worse after 10 years. According to Osborn et al. (Musculoskeletal Pain Among Minnesota Dental Hygienists, Journal of Dental Hygiene, March-April, 1990, p. 132-138), 68% of hygienists have experienced MS pain in the past year, and for nearly one-third of them, this pain affects their professional life. MS pain is more common among hygienists than among dentists because of their scaling activities.
They are few strategies that have been proposed in the literature to solve these problems. Some authors have suggested approaches relating mainly to postural hygiene. Others suggested some equipment changes. For instance, Oberg (Ergonomic Evaluation and Construction of a Reference Workplace in Dental Hygiene: A Case Study, Journal of Dental Hygiene, Vol. 67, no 5, July-August 1993, p. 262-267) tested a chair and armrest attached to the back of the patient""s chair.
Despite every effort, the prior art devices do not adequately prevent MS injuries for dental hygienists. Indeed, there are still times when the hygienist""s arms have to be maintained in an abduction position to work on certain quadrants of the mouth. Furthermore, even if the arms appear to be relaxed near the body, there is still static contraction at the level of the shoulder girdle to stabilize the arms and control the precision of the movement.
Therefore, there is still a need for a device that will support a hygienist""s elbow while still offering mobility that does not obstruct the hygienist""s work.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an elbow rest device connectable to an object that will overcome these drawbacks.
In accordance with the present invention, that object is achieved with an elbow rest device connectable to an object having a portion lying in a vertical plane and a base. The device comprises a pad for supporting a user""s elbow, an elongated member having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion being coupled to the pad. The device further comprises a pivot mechanism for allowing the pad to be movable in a plane substantially transverse to the vertical plane of the object. The pivot mechanism is coupled to the lower portion of the elongated member. Finally, the device comprises a connecting assembly having a first section operatively connected to the object and a second section onto which the pivot mechanism is connected. The second section is positioned in proximity of the base of the object.
The present invention also proposes to provide a chair generally for use by dental professionals. The chair comprises a seat, a vertical support frame member for supporting the seat, the frame member being secured at its bottom end to a base and an elbow rest device as defined above.
An elbow rest device according to the present invention gives good mobility to the arms and hands of the hygienist as well as good support for the arms and shoulders resulting that such device provides increased freedom of movement in order to relieving the shoulder and neck muscles in an efficient way.